We've been Googled!

Google Maps Street View of Swindon goes online

March 2010 will go down in history in Swindon as the date when the worldwide web was officially right up our street.

Google Maps' amazing Street View service aims to feature photographs of all of the world's streets, and now includes Swindon, revealing the town to the rest of the online world in the greatest ever detail.

Street life:

Google Maps Street View

of the historic heart of Swindon

SwindonWeb spotted the cars with their telltale roof-mounted cameras as long ago as the summer of 2008, but only now has all of the views of the town's streets been made available to view online.

Although called Street View, the system gives a slightly higher perspective than eye level, so some residents will find the cameras have inadvertently taken shots over their garden fence or wall.

People and drivers may also be able to spot themselves going about town, although faces and number plates have been obscured.

Watching them watching us:

a Google Maps Street View car in Swindon in 2008

Some people have argued that the photographs are intrusive, an invasion of privacy and even "a service for burglars", but others see it as the latest technological benefit and another marvel of the digital age.

And even opponents of the site may be forced to agree that the Street Views, which were taken in suitably inviting sunny weather, show Swindon as attractive and characterful, and capture the true charm of its surrounding villages.